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"At the very moment the United States is promising the Iranian people freedom and support for standing against the Islamic Republic, it is sending Iranian asylum seekers who fled that same regime back toward their demise."
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On the night of June 11, 2026, the United States government loaded asylum seekers onto a deportation flight bound for the Central African Republic, one of the most dangerous countries on earth. Among those on that flight was at least one Iranian national with a court-recognized fear of persecution. Two other Iranian women, also with court-recognized protections against deportation to Iran, received emergency orders halting their removal only hours before departure.
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"Rahnama of the Iranian American Legal Defense Fund expressed concerns about an Iranian asylum seeker being sent to the Central African Republic, noting Russia's influence in the country and Moscow's close security ties with Iran."
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This is not a close call. This is not a policy dispute. The U.S. State Department tells its own citizens to draft a will and leave DNA samples before traveling to CAR. Wagner Group forces, Russian paramilitary contractors with documented ties to the Iranian government, control the country's security apparatus. Iranian nationals sent there arrive with no language, no community, no legal recourse, and no safety.
Independent country-conditions expert Alexandra Lamarche warned in her June 9 declaration that “no individual, of any background or faith, should be removed to the Central African Republic,” explaining that deportees sent there face risks of persecution, arbitrary detention, torture, and possibly death because they would arrive as outsiders in a country where state forces and Russian mercenary partners have documented records of identity-based violence. Anjli Parrin and Savi Arvey similarly write that such deportations would be “unconscionable,” warning that the U.S.-CAR agreement targets people with no legal or personal ties to CAR, including asylum seekers from Iran and Afghanistan who had already been granted protection by U.S. immigration judges.
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"The women were in serious disbelief when they realized they were scheduled to be sent to the Central African Republic."
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The Trump administration is using secret agreements with African nations as a legal workaround to accomplish what courts have blocked: forcing asylum seekers back toward the very persecution they fled. Two of the three Iranian women we have been working with received emergency court protection at the last possible moment. The third was not as fortunate.
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"Two more Iranian women were transported to Louisiana for deportation to the Central African Republic, but ultimately not put on the plane. The women were Christian converts and fled Iran due to religious persecution. One of the women claims she was targeted for her political beliefs as well."
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IALDF condemns this flight and the policy behind it in the strongest terms. We are continuing to fight for every person subjected to these removals. We call on Congress and the Courts to demand transparency about these secret third-country agreements and to act immediately to stop deportations to countries where people face a credible risk of death and serious harm.
IALDF has been on the ground in Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, Arizona, and Georgia, meeting directly with detained asylum seekers and fighting to stop these deportations. Our work continues.
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If you need help, contact us now.
If you or someone you know has been detained and is facing deportation to the Central African Republic or any third country, please reach out immediately. Time is critical.
Please forward this email to your networks.
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